He Came All the Way Home

When I saw the news that morning through the cell bars, the memories from the night before didn’t come flooding back as I expected. Of course, nothing was expected.

We had fucked up. Pretty badly, I’ll admit.

I could barely feel the Glass in my system, yet the effects were still there. My head felt heavier than ever, the hangover that I acquired didn’t do it any wonders, and my arms were bleeding.

I never needed a fix, so why had I lost it?

I’m sick of life. I’m bored with it. I can guarantee you I am not the only one out there. When we live in such a pathetic world, where the definition of Democracy is Dictatorship.

Maybe our vision wasn’t good enough to fight in the Military. Maybe we had to drop out of high school to help pay the bills, so our single mother could keep up alive one more day. We couldn’t go to college, to maybe make it better, because we never finished school.

Who wouldn’t want to get away from a nation who didn’t care about its people?

~

I filled another needle, taking the now sold one’s place, so I would be ready for the midnight rush that was around the corner.

I kicked open the fridge next to me, pulling out a slightly larger needle, and flicked it twice. Why the hell not?

Soon, I was smiling, just handing the weapons out to those who came. Free. Who cares about the money?

“Hey guys!” slurred the huge man near the door. He was too drunk for his own good, but continued rambling about his “plan”. They wanted me to drive them. Sure.

~

They had come in hours ago, asking my last request. I asked to go by the chair. The man asked me why I didn’t accept the needle, as he sat down to speak with me for some time. As always.

“I didn’t even think that what they were doing was wrong. Several had come into my car. I drove them down the street. Michael Jackson’s new movie, whatever it was, had just come out. He was coming out of the premier with his wife and children.

At this point, they were shooting each other up, slamming the needles into whoever’s arms they could find. Unfortunately, I was there. 27 full injections later can screw you up. I never noticed them get out of the car. I didn’t know the lady had a gun.”

She jumped through the window, the air rang with a bang, then another, and then silence. Do you know what its life to have that weight of responsibility on your chest? To know that you killed innocent people? Children?”

I sat on my bed, trying to stay composed. Tears threatened to fall, and I could hardly care.

“You know that it wasn’t your fault. The mother of Michael pressed, and you are the only one alive. She won’t stop. Would you like for me to tell her that you are sorry?” James Dye, the guard next to me, asked, as he rubbed his hand on my shoulder. I had been charged with a misdemeanor, as the building and drugs weren’t mine, so the judge had let me off, but the mother was persistent.

“I wish I could turn what those fools did. Even if it meant death, another needle will never touch my skin. I think I deserve to suffer still, to repay all that I can. This shall be how.”

~

James talked with me as I ate my last meal, consisting of corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, and macaroni and cheese. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Hun?”

I smiled feebly. They were always so nice, but I knew it was because they were supposed to be. We were under pressure and ‘men under pressure can snap’, according to Stephen King. Little did I knew, what that I was being watched, and had been for the past week.

“I’d like for your face to be last one I see. If you don’t mind.”

~

I let the tears fall at this point, as I was being strapped in. Michael’s family was in front of me, his mother and father in the very front. James stood in front of me.

“Holly Black, Electricity shall be passed through your body until you are dead, in accordance with state law.”

We waited. “Roll on one.”

We waited for God. He came alright.

“God have mercy on your soul. Amen. Roll on two.”

He came alright. All the way home.